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Watch Dogs Review

Watch Dogs

Overall, Watch Dogs is an amazing game. You may be wondering how I can proclaim that when I haven't even completed the game yet, but I don't need to complete the main campaign to realize its greatness. There is just so much to do, like many open-world games, you don't have to even bother with the main campaign and you'll still get your money's worth. Like GTA, Skyrim, Fallout, and Saints Row, you can ignore the main campaign, invest a hundred hours into the game, and never feel bored. That being said, certain campaign missions do unlock additional side missions, so you may eventually want to engage in a few.

While I did not have time to mess around with multiplayer in time for this review (I'll follow-up at a later date), I did want to just mention it quickly. There was a lot of worry by some folk about other players invading your game and ruining your experience. Well, if you're one of those people, there's no need to worry because there is an option to turn off "Player Invasions" entirely. However, I strongly recommend leaving it turned on because they're pretty awesome. I've only been invaded twice so far, but it's seamless and really adds a great deal of tension, as you have a limited time to find the invader. The first time I caught him, while the second time I failed. As far as I know, you'll never be invaded while in the middle of a mission, only while you're traveling to a mission or messing around in the open world, so there's no real worry of an invader disrupting your game. Meanwhile, the other multiplayer modes all require direct queuing, so you only have to engage in them if/when you want to.

The thing is, even if you don't want to partake in multiplayer and turn off player invasions, there's so much single-player content that you'll still get your money's worth. There are the 39 campaign missions spread asymmetrically across five acts, 93 side missions spread across four categories, 53 investigations spread across five categories, 192 collectibles spread across six categories (100 of which are the aforementioned check-ins), six mini-games, and four Digital Trips. Borrowing a page from the Assassin's Creed and Batman Arkham series, there are 13 ctOS Towers you can infiltrate that "open up" a region, so you're not completely blind in search of those missions and collectibles.

If you're a PC gamer pissed off that GTA V has not come to our beloved platform, forget that and get Watch Dogs instead. Rockstar may not support the PC gaming community, but Ubisoft continues to do so and the PC remains the best place to experience the studio's games. This is especially true if you're an NVIDIA user, as you get to enjoy TXAA and HBAO+ for even prettier graphics, but even without those two things, the game is great. In fact, unlike Batman: Arkham Origins, where you were really missing out if you couldn't enjoy PhysX and Turbulence, those features aren't utilized in Watch Dogs and thus it isn't as "detrimental" to the experience if you happen to choose the red camp over the green camp.

In the beginning of this review, I questioned whether my high expectations were setting me up for a major letdown. Well I'm happy to report that there is certainly no letdown here. Watch Dogs does indeed live up to the hype, and while some minor things can be improved upon, this is a game worth adding to your library whether you're a PC gamer or console gamer. While I'd love to see improved shadows and some additional minor interactive objects, the only other issue is that the camera can get a bit wonky at times, as is common in third-person games. It's not too bad, though I do wish you could zoom out a bit further from Aiden instead of being right over his shoulder most of the time.

I don't want to go as far as to say Watch Dogs is a "GTA killer", but it doesn't have to be – whether you're a GTA fan or have become bored with the franchise, Watch Dogs offers up a little something for everyone to enjoy. But do please keep in mind that the game is for mature audiences only! Aside from all the bloodshed, there is nudity and plenty of swearing.